


Hours at the End of the World

by TwilightKnight17



Series: Hours 'Verse [1]
Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I'd consider this a golden ending, M/M, Ryoji's Maxed Fortune S-Link, mostly game canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 03:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10756224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17
Summary: Minato and Ryoji learn that it's much easier to face the apocalypse together than apart.





	1. January 9th, 2010

**Author's Note:**

> I was pretty sure everyone had already run with this idea, but if they have, I haven't found it yet. So here's my contribution to the too-small pile of work for this pairing. Be the fic you want to see in the world, kiddos. XDDD
> 
> This is 95% game canon (hence using Minato instead of Makoto), with a bit of movie mixed in for flavor, and Ryoji's social link from the FeMC's route. It's still a damn shame you can't date him as Minato, since he flat-out says he'd like you either way. Oh well.
> 
> (I've never written for this fandom before, so be gentle, please. XD)

It was January 9th, the world was ending, and Minato couldn’t sleep.

He knew that he needed to; he had to recover his strength so that he could go to Tartarus tomorrow. If they couldn’t reach the top of the Tower of Demise by the 31st, their decision to fight would be meaningless.

But the more he thought about how he should be sleeping, the farther away sleep seemed to flee, and as the world shattered into sickly green and the Dark Hour began, he sat up with a sigh. Mitsuru had taken the girls (and Koromaru) to fight tonight, and the dorm was quiet. Even Junpei, who had a bad habit of staying up late watching cheesy action movies, seemed to have gone to bed, too tired to do anything but try to recover before tomorrow.

It had been wrong, to think that they would have time to fear impending death. They were too busy working themselves to exhaustion to avert it, while juggling school and trying to appear normal to everyone else. Minato twisted the ring on his finger, smiling sadly. Ryoji had been so worried for them, so broken… Would he be proud to see how hard they were fighting now?

Giving up entirely on sleeping, Minato climbed out of bed and got dressed. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he left the dorm and headed into the streets, wandering between the scattered coffins and letting his feet go where they wanted as he drifted in his music. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to worry, and he didn't want to remember the heartbroken expression Ryoji had worn when he'd bid Minato goodbye.

He only snapped out of it when he realized that, by some stroke of fate, he had wandered up to the Moonlight Bridge, where everything had gone to hell a month ago. And when he saw who was standing there, he pulled off his headphones, not daring to move closer lest the other vanish.

“Ryoji?”

It was impossible that he could be standing there. He’d walked out of the dorm at the stroke of the new year and vanished into nothing, taking half of Minato’s heart with him and leaving the other half a mess of pieces held together with nothing more than determination and a ring. He should be one with Nyx by now, but here he was, and Minato could feel what was left of his heart weakening at the cracks, again.

Ryoji smiled, and from his expression seemed to be thinking something similar. “Minato…” He shook his head helplessly. “Why would they torment me like this?”

Realizing that Ryoji wasn’t a strange hallucination, Minato practically sprinted the last few yards towards him, arms locking around his skinny waist so that he couldn’t escape. He didn’t know what he could say at this point; their goodbyes had been said over a week ago. So he simply buried his face in the familiar yellow scarf, refusing to let go even as Ryoji flailed a bit from the impact. In the end, Ryoji’s arms settled around him in return, and they stood there together atop the silent bridge, two halves of a soul reunited.

But, knowing it wasn’t reasonable to stand out in the open on the bridge all night, they eventually moved to the playground, sitting side-by-side atop the play equipment and watching the massive moon. There, Minato finally worked up the nerve to ask how he was there. He didn’t want to question such a gift, but he had to know.

“Your influence is stronger than I thought,” Ryoji said quietly. 

“My influence?”

“Yeah. This part of me… This is the part that’s human. And it’s a lot stronger that I realized.” Ryoji fiddled with his scarf, almost hiding behind the wrappings. “I can only be here like this during the Dark Hour...and at the end of the month I will return to Nyx for real...but this...might be enough for me.”

Minato leaned into him, finding the familiar way their bodies fit together, and closed his eyes. It had taken everything he had to admit that he loved Ryoji that night. He had run out of words on December 31st, and had none left for now. But as it turned out, he didn’t need words, because Ryoji caught sight of his hand and said breathlessly, “The ring…!”

Minato nodded, holding his hand up so that Ryoji could see it better. Death Incarnate was turning a rather surprising shade of pink, and Minato frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”

Ryoji shook his head. “Nothing, nothing, just-- That finger,” he stammered, embarrassed.

“Is it really surprising?” Minato examined the ring where it sat around his left ring finger, a tiny smile quirking his lips at how flustered Ryoji had gotten. “Which of us called me ‘my dearest’ and gave me the ring in the first place?”

“You are my dearest,” Ryoji objected, pressing a kiss to his mop of blue hair. “My beautiful, impossible dearest who somehow isn’t afraid of me. And...I know that you said you loved me, but _that_ , the ring, implies…” His voice cracked, the way it had that night he’d explained everything to them. “ _I am Death._ Why would you want to be Death’s soulmate?”

Minato just smiled. “You didn’t choose what you are.” He hummed as Ryoji wound an arm around his waist, and added contemplatively, “And...I am afraid, a little. Not of you, but...what you represent. It’s much easier to be afraid of death when you have something to live for.”

“Something to fight for…” Ryoji echoed. But instead of falling back on his insistence that Nyx couldn’t be beaten, he said, very quietly, “Maybe it is enough. After all...somehow, I am still here. That alone is a miracle.”

Minato nodded against his shoulder, drifting back into silence. Ryoji was here, at the end of everything. And maybe he was right. Maybe it was enough.


	2. January 15th, 2010

It was January 15th, the world was ending, and Minato was surprisingly comfortable.

“Is this where you lived?” he asked, sunken into the couch in the sparse but cozy apartment a few blocks from the station. It was the opposite direction from the dorm, which made all those times Ryoji had insisted on walking him home take on a new magnitude. 

He’d started spending the Dark Hour with Ryoji every other day, when he wasn’t fighting in Tartarus. If anyone else in the dorm had noticed his absences, they hadn’t said anything, though he was grateful that Aigis was always in Tartarus on these nights so that she didn’t try to stop him.

“Yeah. I’m not listed anywhere as being the owner, but no one tried to kick me out or anything. I don’t think they notice me. Or the apartment in general.” Ryoji passed him a can of soda retrieved from the tiny kitchen, and flopped down beside him. “I don’t know. It’s probably a side effect of being an Arcana Shadow.”

Reality bending to accommodate the Appriser didn’t seem too far-fetched, when Minato stopped to consider it. It probably kept people from asking too many questions. How many times had he himself thought about asking Ryoji about his home, or his parents, only to brush the thought away for no particular reason? It wasn’t even his usual brand of anti-social; it was just a sudden urge to disregard his curiosity.

As if reading his mind, Ryoji continued, “Gekkoukan didn’t ask any questions either. All I had to do was sign the paperwork. It was like they didn’t notice that I didn’t even have some kind of guardian. Although, I didn’t notice at the time either.” He laughed, and there was a slight tinge of hysteria to it. “Can you imagine trying to get my ‘parents’ to sign school forms? Yes, Ms. Toriumi, this is my mother, Nyx, the Night Queen, Mother of Shadows and Goddess of Death. Yes, Mr. Edogawa, this is my father, Erebus, Living Desire for Demise, primordial beast of Chaos. They’re here to sign the enrollment paperwork!”

Minato almost started to laugh at the sheer absurdity of what he was saying, but something caught and held his attention, and he asked, “Erebus?”

Ryoji nodded. “Erebus is...the physical manifestation of humanity’s desire for death. He is born from the collective unconscious, his existence prompts the birth of the Arcana Shadows, and then the Arcana Shadows become...well, me. I herald the arrival of Nyx, who is drawn to Erebus, and when they meet…”

“The Fall happens,” Minato filled in quietly. “And everything dies. But we won’t let it.”

“How are you so optimistic?” Ryoji asked, heaving a great sigh and flopping sideways so he was lying across Minato’s lap. “How are you not scared to the point of immobility?”

“I believe in my friends,” Minato said simply. “And I believe in you.”

“Me?”

“You said you’re part of Nyx. But I think you would try to protect me.” He looked down at Ryoji, a spark of recognition in his stormy grey eyes. “You protected me before, from the Magician, didn’t you?”

Ryoji stared at him, his eyes glowing faintly, unearthly blue. “What makes you say that?”

Minato offered a tiny smile. “Thanatos,” he explained. “The Magician would have overwhelmed Orpheus. And I didn’t know how to summon anything else, but Thanatos appeared anyway. That was you, wasn’t it? Even though,” he swallowed hard, “even though if I had died, you would have been free then.”

“No,” Ryoji said, sitting up so fast he almost headbutted Minato in his urgency. He looked him right in the face, saying intently, “I lived with you for ten years. And in all that time, I thought of you as my friend. I didn’t remember anything about shadows or Nyx; I just knew I didn’t want my friend to die.”

Minato knew he was telling the truth. He’d started seeing the Dark Hour after the accident on the bridge, and Pharos had always been there, either distracting him with games and conversations, or just laying with him until the Hour passed, letting him hide his eyes in his shoulder. It was only later that he’d started his seemingly-random portents of doom, long after Minato had grown used to the green light and the blood. No shadows had ever come near them, not until that night with the full moon egging them on, and he was realizing now that it was because of the influence of the stronger shadow within him. It made sense that Pharos, Ryoji, whoever he had been then, had tried to protect him. And Minato trusted him; that was why he had signed the contract without hesitation, almost a year ago.

Ryoji was looking at his own hands contemplatively. “I think that’s why I’m me,” he said. “As Pharos, I really did care for you. I knew I would still be drawn to you even though I couldn’t remember, and I wanted a new form that could love you. As Pharos I was a companion for a younger you. But as I am now…”

Minato leaned in to peck him on the cheek. “As you are now, you are my soulmate.”

“Even though I’m Death.”

“Quiet.” Minato picked up one of the couch pillows and tackled him back against the couch, smushing the pillow on his face. “That doesn’t matter.” He expertly avoided the flailing limbs; Ryoji was still a twig, Appriser or not. “And Death doesn’t suit you. Not according to Elizabeth and Igor, anyway.”

Ryoji said something muffled into the pillow, and Minato moved it enough to free up his mouth. Death Incarnate stuck his tongue out like a toddler, but repeated, “The people in that weird blue room?”

“Velvet Room,” Minato corrected. That had been part of last visit’s conversation. It was refreshing to know that he could tell Ryoji about all of these things now, and help him make sense of the hazy things he’d been aware of when he was still sealed inside Minato. “And yeah. Elizabeth said that your bond is Fortune. Which makes sense.”

Ryoji yanked the pillow off of his face completely, eyes widened. “F-Fortune? What about me is fortunate?”

Minato frowned. “That’s not what it means, stupid. Elizabeth says it’s about fate. Making choices, choosing your destiny. And that’s what you offered us. You gave us a choice for how to face the end.”

For the first time since December 3rd, hope bloomed in Ryoji’s eyes. He had thought that he was nothing but Death, but if the masters of the Velvet Room saw his arcana differently...maybe there was a chance. Maybe his bond with Minato was something different, something...hopeful. It was just the tiniest of chances, but something was better than nothing. Unable to articulate how happy he was, he dragged Minato down on top of him for a kiss, for once as lost for words as his partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...you can save Shinjiro by maxing his link, after all. And your link with Ryoji isn't "Death"...
> 
> More to come...


	3. January 29th, 2010

It was January 29th, the world was ending, and Minato had thought there was nothing left to surprise him anymore.

“Your hands are warm,” he said, the realization sudden and sharp. They were in the dorm, just dozing in Minato’s bed, and Ryoji’s hand had landed on Minato’s cheek. The other boy’s skin was usually always cool to the touch, which Minato had shrugged off as poor circulation first, and a side-effect of being Death second. But now that hand, while not as warm as Minato’s, was an actual normal temperature, and it was baffling.

Ryoji stared at his own hands, pressing them to his face and then Minato’s, finally sticking them up under Minato’s shirt to feel his bare back. Ignoring the yelp and squirm he got for his abrupt action, he said wonderingly, “I thought you didn’t feel as weirdly hot as usual, but I didn’t think…”

Minato settled again, relaxing into the touch on his back, and looked up to meet Ryoji’s eyes. “Do you think you’re becoming more human?”

“That would be cruel.” The answer was immediate, and flat. Minato made a questioning noise, and Ryoji sighed. “Why would they do that to me? There are only two mornings left until the Fall. Why give me just an hour of humanity, only to have me drawn back into Nyx?”

“Oh…” That _would_ be cruel. Minato didn’t want to acknowledge that Ryoji was going to have to disappear again, but the days were ticking away. The teams were one floor from the top of Tartarus, and Nyx would soon descend. He sighed deeply, feeling like he had deflated, and just lay limply on Ryoji’s chest. Ryoji rubbed tiny circles into his spine, trying to be comforting. 

If only Minato could keep him, somehow call him back from the depths of Nyx even if he did disappear…

...summon him?

“Ryoji.”

“Hm?” Ryoji sat up a little, startled by the sudden urgency in his tone.

Minato looked utterly serious as he asked, “Are you really Thanatos?”

“...yes?” Ryoji was sure he’d made that abundantly clear back at the end of December. It had been his last-ditch effort to convince Minato that he wasn’t human, and therefore worth killing, after all. “Why do you ask?”

“So Thanatos isn’t one of my personas?” Minato asked.

Ryoji frowned. “No, it’s me. Or, a facet of me, I guess. What are you getting at?”

Minato swallowed hard. “Could I… Could I summon you, during the fight with Nyx, even if you’re gone? Would you still come?”

Understanding filled Ryoji’s expression, and he cupped Minato’s face in his hands. “I would try. I would try with everything that I am, if you called me.” He shook his head. “I don’t _want_ the Fall. I was happy, here, as Mochizuki Ryoji. I was happy with you and all of your friends. I was happy in class, and going out for burgers, and riding the train. I was even happy with Aigis insisting I wasn’t good. I don’t want to destroy all of that, I don’t want you all to die, but I have no choice. So if I can do anything to make it more difficult for Nyx… I will.”

The Dark Hour was winding to a close, and both got up, still determined to pretend that it was as simple as Ryoji having to go home. One of them always left before the Hour ended, to keep up the illusion. But tonight, they simply stood together in the center of Minato’s room, hands clasped and foreheads pressed together.

“I wish that I didn’t have to go to Tartarus tomorrow,” Minato admitted. It was selfish, but he would rather take the time to spend one last hour with Ryoji.

“You do, though,” Ryoji said, squeezing his hands. “The way to the top must be clear, and your friends need you.” His thumb smoothed over the ring, still safely on Minato’s finger. “I will see you at the top of the tower. Just call me, and I will come. I love you.”

“I love y--” But before he could finish the words, the sickly greenish light faded back to blue, the blood and darkness vanished, and Ryoji disappeared from his grasp as surely as the massive moon had disappeared from the sky, leaving Minato holding nothing but empty air. His fists clenched, but he swallowed back the wounded noise that wanted to escape and dutifully began to get ready for bed. He had to be rested; there was one last day of school to get through, and then an entire day to strategize and stock up on things.

And then...there was nothing left but the fight against Nyx.


	4. January 31st, 2010

It was January 31st. The world was ending.

Strega hadn’t been enough to stand in their way, nor had the shadows that still inhabited Tartarus. Even the Reaper had fallen before them, as they made one last determined charge up the Tower of Demise to the roof. There had been waiting the Avatar of Nyx, bearing a face that looked like an empty mask of its human self. It hadn’t been an easy fight; the Avatar had the ability to wield all thirteen full-moon arcana, and the group had to think quickly to counter its changing strategies and weaknesses. And in the end, Thanatos had indeed come when called and ripped into the Avatar savagely, finally bringing it down.

And then it _got back up_ … It got back up, the moon split open to reveal their true foe, where she had been all along, and the Avatar began to ascend.

“No!” Akihiko roared. He, along with most of S.E.E.S., could only watch helplessly as it rose beyond the reach of their melee weapons, too exhausted to summon their personas even one more time. Aigis and Yukari were still trying to shoot it down, worn to the bone from the effort of just bringing it down once. And Minato put his evoker to his temple, calling desperately for Thanatos.

_Don’t go! Don’t do this, come back to me, **don’t go!!**_

But the shot did nothing. Minato fired over and over, but the familiar sensation of shattering glass didn’t come. There was only a faint snap, and he realized with despair that it was the connection between them shattering instead.

_“Ryoji!”_

The Nyx Avatar began to dissolve into points of light, motes of being soaring up to rejoin the ominous red eye that hovered poised to judge them all. But amidst the lights was a darker shape, a human shape, and Minato’s eyes widened. It began to fall, and without thinking, he called for Orpheus.

His persona caught the person and brought them safely down to the roof, and Minato darted forward, unable to believe it. Ryoji wobbled on his feet, looking stunned, and electric blue eyes focused on Minato for a long moment before he smiled.

“What did I tell you?” he asked. “You called me, and I came.”

“But the Avatar…”

“What was of Nyx returned to Nyx. This...This is the human part of me, and thanks to you, I am strong enough to exist. I have an ego, a _soul._ ” Ryoji’s grip on his arms was tight enough to bruise, and he looked around as shadows began to rise from the roof.

“What is _he_ doing here?” Aigis demanded. The rest of the group looked like they had the same question, but there wasn’t time for explanations. The shadows were rising, impossible numbers of them, overwhelming them even as they tried to fight. Ryoji fumbled for a weapon, snatching up a length of chain dragging from one of the shadows and ripping it off so that he could brandish it like a whip.

He swung it violently, lashing at a crowd of shadows and trying to drive them back from Minato and Aigis. “I’m glad that I get to fight with you all at the end. You… You were right. This is better than obliviously walking into death.”

“It’s not over yet,” Minato said, and when Ryoji looked, his eyes were glowing gold.

“What are you seeing?” he asked, recognizing the color from half-remembered trips to the Velvet Room.

Minato raised his hand, one finger pointed to the sky, and light erupted around them, driving back the shadows. Ryoji shielded his eyes, trying to see him through the glow, and suddenly he could hear Igor’s voice.

_No miracle is beyond your reach…_

When the light faded, Minato was offering him a hand. “We can do this. Together.” His eyes were still glowing; in fact, every bit of him seemed to be radiating a faint light. 

Ryoji grabbed his hand, stepping up to stand beside him, and he could feel through their bond what needed to be done. He had told Minato that Thanatos was merely a facet of himself, and what did the others call those facets?

_Persona._

Minato raised his evoker, and Ryoji raised his free hand, fingers held to his temple in the approximate shape of a gun. Together, they stared up at the glowing eye of Nyx high above them, took a breath, and fired.

Orpheus and Thanatos appeared behind their masters, visible for only a brief moment before seeming to merge together. S.E.E.S. watched in amazement, having never seen a fusion of personas done before. There was a flash, and then a tall, pure white figure stood above the pair. Elements of the pieces that made it up were still visible, but it was something brand-new, and in a voice of absolute authority, Minato named it.

**“Messiah.”**

The two of them, hands still linked, lifted from the roof, a protective golden aura forming as they rose towards Nyx. The rest of their friends stared in horror, reaching as if to draw them back.

“Hey, stop! Where are you going?” Junpei demanded, though he could barely stand, leaning heavily on his sword.

“Arisato, come back!”

“Minato-kun, Ryoji-kun!”

“Minato!”

“Senpai!”

_“Don’t go!”_

But neither boy looked back, and they disappeared into the glowing red eye, leaving their friends behind to hope and pray that everything would be all right.

The core of Nyx was so bright, it was nearly blinding, and Minato was grateful that Messiah could shield them from most of its glare. He let go of Ryoji’s hand to brandish his sword, but the core summoned up vicious explosions, and it was almost too much to bear after all the fighting to this point.

“Get up!” Ryoji cried, stepping between Minato and Nyx’s core. “It isn’t your time; you are _not_ going to die here!”

Minato blinked, his vision blurring, and he could almost see the Velvet Room, somewhere in the luminescence. Igor was talking, smiling, trying to show him something in the compendium.

_You have found your answer. You have obtained the power of the Universe. It is enough to make a miracle, if you trust in the power of the bonds you have made._

They were going to need a miracle, Minato realized, as Ryoji took another hit and fell to his knees. He reached out to Messiah, sensing the technique and knowing what he would have to do, and his eyes widened. _The Great Seal._

Most people would have hesitated, but he didn’t. He reached out, thinking of all the bonds he had made. His friends at school, in Tatsumi Port Island, the rest of S.E.E.S… They were important to him. They deserved to live. They had shown him that the world wasn’t just empty; that it was worth reaching out to other people. All of their hopes and all of their prayers were giving him strength, and he stood. The Seal tugged at him, waiting to be cast, and he knew it would take everything he had.

Ryoji’s hand found his again, and the tug of the Seal suddenly lessened, divided between them. Minato turned to look at him, but Ryoji was staring straight at Nyx.

“What are you doing?” Minato said urgently. “I have to do this; we can’t kill it, we can’t drive it back, the only option is to keep it from reaching Erebus!”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Ryoji countered. “I won’t let you. The persona’s made from both of us, so I can cast it too.”

Minato shook his head. “You’re finally human. I can’t… I can’t let this kill us both. You deserve to live.” _You, most of all, deserve the chance to live._

Ryoji finally turned to look at him, a helpless, sad smile on his face. “So do you. And why would I want to, if you weren’t there?”

There was no way he could argue with that, and there was no time left to fight. Nyx was descending; they had to cast the Seal and pray that it didn’t take more than they had to give. Minato raised their joined hands, focusing everything they had on the glowing abomination before them.

_“Messiah!”_

There was a flash, brighter than Nyx’s core, drowning out all vision in a sea of white. Minato and Ryoji clung to each other, feeling the drain of the Seal as it cast, and then, like falling asleep, felt nothing at all.


	5. March 5th, 2010

It was March 5th, the world had not ended, and Minato was content.

“Do you think they’re coming?” he asked, reaching up to thread his fingers into Ryoji’s hair. He was reclined back against the other boy’s chest as they sat against the fence on the roof, Ryoji’s arms looped securely around him.

Ryoji chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll remember. We’ve got one already.” He gestured absently at Aigis, who nodded, and then added, “Are you sure that you’re okay with missing graduation? Mitsuru-senpai is probably giving a heck of a speech.”

“Too tired to sit through that,” Minato said lazily. “Besides, I’m the living embodiment of the Universe or something. That means I can skip boring ceremonies.”

“I am sure that Mitsuru-san and Akihiko-san will understand,” Aigis said. “And Ryoji-san would not have been able to attend anyway, after being delinquent for three months.”

“That wasn’t my fault!” Ryoji laughed. He’d decided, after January, that it wasn’t worth it to try to go back to school. He’d just re-enroll when school started again in April, and make up some excuse about being called away by a family emergency. It wasn’t really a lie, after all. “Hey, really though, thanks for looking out for this guy during the day, Aigis. It must have been rough, having to go to school and be the only two that remember.”

“I promised to protect Minato-san with my life. That is not changing even though you are no longer a threat,” Aigis said firmly.

Minato whined. “Stop saying you’ll die for me. Both of you are awful.”

“You were going to die for us. You don’t get to talk,” Ryoji countered, poking his cheek.

Minato huffed, turning his head and nuzzling Ryoji’s shoulder as he let his eyes slip shut. Ryoji watched him fondly, glad to know that this was just normal Minato sleepiness, and not the draining effects of the Seal. It had been a rough few days afterwards, with near-constant dizzy spells for both of them and bone-deep exhaustion, but they had slowly recovered thanks to the (marginally overbearing) attentions of the Velvet Room’s guardians. Elizabeth and Theodore had finally declared them well enough to leave, and they returned to Tatsumi Port Island only to realize that they and Aigis were the only ones who had any recollection of the Dark Hour or Nyx’s descent.

After that it was a whole month of adjusting. Aigis and Ryoji slowly started to become friends, Ryoji slowly adapted to being an actual, live human, and both he and Minato had to adapt to the faint sensation of the Seal at the edge of their consciousness. They had each given a piece of their souls to keep Nyx and Erebus apart, and if they focused, they could have a tiny bit of awareness of that great Door at the end of the world. Truly, it made them just a little bit more than human: Death and the Universe in human guise, but neither boy was particularly concerned.

Minato reached over and took Aigis’s hand, and she squeezed it before examining the ring. “I have never noticed that before. Minato-san, are you engaged?”

Minato’s eyes popped open, and he spluttered embarrassedly for a moment before managing, “Ryoji gave it to me.”

“Ryoji-san?”

“Yeah, I did!” Ryoji winked. “We’re destined partners!”

Aigis and Minato exchanged a baffled glance. “Why...does that sound familiar?” Minato asked.

Ryoji shrugged as best he could with Minato lying on him. “I don’t know. It just seemed like the right thing to say.”

“Hm…” But neither of the two S.E.E.S. members seemed too inclined to dwell on it. Instead, Minato said, “I wonder what happens next. Do you think shadows are gone for good?”

“I have not detected any since the night of the Fall,” Aigis said. “If they are still here, they are dormant.”

Ryoji nodded. “They’re still here. Shadows won’t ever completely go away. But the arcana shadows and Tartarus are gone, so they won’t be centralized anymore. It probably wouldn’t hurt to keep the upperclassmen on speed dial just in case, at least.”

There was a sudden cry from the other side of the roof, and all three looked up to see their friends racing towards them, huge smiles on their faces.

“Arisato-kun!” “Ryoji-kun!” “Minato-senpai!” “Minato!” “Aigis!” “Leader!” “Arf!”

Minato sat up, storm-grey eyes bright with happiness. It was the first day of a better world, and he couldn’t ask for more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched Persona 3 before Persona 4, and spent a lot of time complaining at my brother that there was no way to save Ryoji. He insisted over and over that Ryoji was a Shadow, Ryoji was just part of Nyx, Ryoji didn't exist on his own. So imagine how irritated I was to see 4, featuring Teddie the sort-of-human-form Shadow, and Marie, part of a larger goddess, getting to live in Inaba with all of their friends, when Ryoji didn't get the same. I'd already started this fic by then, but that just spurred me on, and now months later it's done. X'D
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed!


End file.
